Cherokee Roses {Daryl Dixon's Daughter}

t w e n t y s i x

I was awoken by Carl. My cheeks felt stiff and I knew that they were stained from my tears.

"If I let you out," Carl said with authority in his voice. "you have to promise to stay."

"I promise." I whispered. I didn't feel like fighting him anymore. Unlocking the gate he received a hug from me. My arms flew around his neck and if they went any tighter than he'd be strangled. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, you just want your dad back, I can understand." He muttered in my ear.

"Thank you."

After our small moment, we head outside to the courtyard. Hershel and Glenn seem to be in a small argument and it doesn't take long for Glenn to drive off. Carl opens and closes the gate for him and I find myself sitting on the steps enjoying the heat of the sunlight.

It's getting warmer, but there is still traces of winter in the spring air especially in the early morning like right now. I watch as Carol and Axel interact with each other.

Carl eventually joins me, putting his arm behind my back, allowing me to lean against it. Carol looks over with a small smile on her face.

"Don't be getting too cozy over there," Carol laughs. "You two are growing up too fast."

Leaning my head against Carl's shoulder, Carol goes back to speaking with Axel and Beth comes over too us. Standing up I give the older girl a hug.

"Miss me in solitary Cheri?" She jokes.

"That's it, I take my hug back." The three of us laugh but all too quickly the moment is gone.

On the floor is Axel, a sniper round through his brain. Quickly, all of us hit the ground and remain still. Peeking up, I see the governor and more shots ring out. We make a run for the metal bleachers and I feel a bullet graze my arm.

"Ah!" I groan tripping over myself.

"You okay?" Beth asks. We can't stay in this spot so I nod and next thing I know, we're running behind a wall for cover. There's a gunman in one of the towers and Maggie comes rushing out with guns. One for Beth and one for Carol who is now running towards us. I'm left defenseless as all I have is my knife. How could I be so stupid?

Eventually the gunfire stops and everything is silent for a tiny moment. Then the silence is broken by an engine roaring and ramming through our front gates.

"Is that it?" I ask. But of course, thats never it. The back of it falls and walkers pool out, infecting the yard that was once cleared. Once again the prison is filled with gun fire.

Maggie shoots the man in the guard tower, killing him and one by one the governors men retreat leaving us to clear the field. Theres too many of them for me to take on with the knife but I try anyways. Stabbing one in the head, it falls to the ground.

That's when I notice Hershel still by the fence. He's not going to make it up here in time. Breaking out into a dead sprint I race to the older man, killing any of the walkers that get to close for comfort.

"Go Hershel!" I yell whipping around to stab another in the brain. It's not until I'm about to get overrun by them that Michonne and Glenn come to our rescue.

"Come on kid!" Michonne says opening the truck door for me and closing it just before its too late.

"Thanks." I whisper catching my breath.

"Is your arm okay?" She asks.

"Just a graze," I assure her. " I'll be fine."

"We'll get you patched up soon enough Cheri," Hershel assures. "Just make sure to apply plenty of pressure."

Doing as the old man says Michonne helps me out, grabbing a cloth from her pocket and pressing it to my arm. The two of us get out of the car, examining the damage thats been done to our home. The once cleared field is filled with the undead and now

But thats not the only thing that catches my attention. Walking into the gate is Rick and two other figures. One of them my father and the other my formerly missing uncle. Two people that I thought I'd never see again.

"Daddy!" I yelp running into his arms. "You came back."

"I'm sorry Cheri." He mumbles into my hair. "I'm never gonna leave ya again."

For once the tears in my eyes are happy as I grip my father like he'll disappear at any moment.

"Well ain't this cute." Merle says interrupting our moment. "You really have gone soft brother."

"Shut up Merle." I snap as dad puts me down.

"Woah there missy, I'm still your family." He taunts and I roll my eyes turning my attention back to my dad.

"Why'd you leave?" I ask quietly.

" 'Cause I'm stupid Cheri." He admits. "What happened 'ere"

"I was shot." I shrug. "Just a graze though, I'll be fine."

"I'll be the judge of that young Cherokee." Hershel says before putting a hand on my dad's shoulder. "Good to have you back son."

"It's good to be back."

---

Whatever Merle needed help with wasn't worth it anymore.It was too risky for Daryl. He couldn't afford to go to jail. Not with Cherokee in his life.

"Forget it man." Daryl muttered stopping the car. "I ain't doing it."

"Since when did you become such a sissy!" Merle hollered at him.

"I ain't no sissy, I just got responsibilities now." He told his older brother. "Just get out of my car man." 

"Fine, but don't come whining to me when you have problems little brother!" Merle said slamming the car door shut. 

"You're 90% of my problems jackass." He whispered before driving back to the run down house he called home. 

Locking his truck, he stepped into his house noticing the sobs of Cherokee had stopped. Quietly he stepped into her room. She didn't have a lot of toys but the ones that she did were neatly put away except for the stuffed bear she slept with constantly. 

Her tiny cheeks were stained from her tears and she was snoring lightly. Carefully, Daryl picked up his young daughter and carried her into his room. He figured that she needed some comfort tonight and so did he. As he placed her on the bed her eyelids fluttered open barely.

"You came back." She muttered, sleep evident in her voice.

"Yeah, I did." He whispered placing a kiss on her forehead. "It's just me and you kiddo." 

"What about Merle?" Although she was young, she knew of the hold the older Dixon had on his brother. 

"Don't worry bout 'em."

---

Word Count: 1123

Really hope you enjoyed.

How do you think Cheri is going to react with her uncles return?

Will she change?

Anyways, please leave a like and comment if you did enjoy and I'll see y'all in the next update.